Pen work!

Today I am more focused on sharing with the world one young lady, who started college today.
One of the greatest creations I've ever had a part in.
Congrats Cheyenne. I am so incredibly proud of you, you are going to do amazing things. I hope the world is ready for you.

But I do have this to share as well.
(I'd like to say it kept me from crying like a mom on the first day of kindergarten... but nope)

Tangling with some new patterns!

This morning I tangled and tried some new patterns. There's a lot going on in here, but it's fun!

Balbya, Cirque, Organza, Fescu, Flux and Flwr Box

New to me patterns were
Balbya by Anya Lothrop
Cirque by Chris Gerstner
and Flwr Box by Kathy Barringer

Others are some of my favorites, Flux, Fescu and Organza with some orbs and pearls thrown in!
I love to play with new patterns!!!

Happy Saturday!

Tangles and Ink

Practicing some for an upcoming offering in my studio.
Tangles and Ink! And exploration of alcohol inks and Zentangle!

 Ceramic tiles!

I'm excited about how this turned out!

And paper tiles!

So I think a lot of good work was done yesterday... I'll be using some of these examples and pictures in the promos for the upcoming class.

I'd love to have some of my local people come check it out!

Skyline series

I have been working on these for a while, and I'm very happy to say that the first is completely done and will be being made into limited edition reproductions as well as notecards. I have 52 others so far that are in my artist queue so other areas will be popping up soon if you are interested in somewhere specific shoot me a message and I'll add it.

Here are close ups of each, notice that I had to watermark them in more than one spot. I'm disappointed to say that I've had people try and pass things off as their own on more than one occasion lately.
:\ Not cool people.

See it on etsy!

See it on etsy

See it on Etsy!

See it on Etsy!

See it on Etsy!

I hope you are working on something great and I'd love to see it!

Today I made a newsletter....

Because that isn't fun to show you on my blog, I will show you pictures of my BEAUTIFUL new business cards. Seriously. Moo is amazing. I am so happy with these.

So those arrived and my banner is on the way and the newsletter is set up to send out today. If you haven't signed up yet, you can sign up here. http://eepurl.com/bhZXV9

Spring....

It's still a bit away for those of us in my area, but I'm feeling the first hints of spring fever and it's starting to make it's way into my tiles.

N'Zeppel, Springkle, B'Dylan and Zinger with a dash of Fescu

I'm on an N'Zeppel kick. :) I love the way it looks like stone. 

This is one I'm working with for a segment of a beyond the basics class on transitions.
It didn't go QUITE the way I wanted it to, but it opened up another segment I want to do about balance.

So... happy accident.

I have fun sneakers to go work on today and I'm working on picking some of my favorite tiles for my new business cards.

I think that's "all" I have planned for today.

What about you my friends? What are you going to make today?

Monotangles!

One of the things I've been doing periodically is putting all the official tangle patterns onto bijou tiles and into a binder. That way I know I am skilled in all of them, plus I like to use it as a reference for my students.  I worked on these. So, Zinger, Oof, Ix and one of my favorites, Pea-knuckle!

I also created a new Pinterest board that's going to be tangle patterns if you're interested. So I spent some time (I plead the 5th about how long) pinning some stuff on there to get started.
Tangle Patterns- Zentangle Stuff

What have you been working on?
Just so everyone knows.. I do go look at all the links. I don't always get time to comment on everything but I do ALWAYS go look. :)

It's part of my morning routine to go look at what got done the previous day.

So, go do something awesome today. :) I can't wait to see!

Chicago is my kind of town!

I actually adore Chicago, so when it was suggested for a skyline, I knew it was going to be my next one.
I spent one of the weekends that was the MOST FUN EVER in Chicago back in the spring in the early 90s. I stayed at the Hotel Lincoln, spend a day at the Lincoln Park Zoo, ate some great pizza, went to a fun wedding, realized that the offical shoe of the city seemed to be the rollerblade at the time and of course there were cocktails and dancing and so much energy!
Frank Sinatra said Chicago was his kinda town, it was also mine!
So I'm not very far with this yet.. but here we go.

Do you think it would be fun if I started posting the outlines before telling you where it is? And people could guess? :D
Kind of a "Name that skyline!" idea?
Just for fun?

Today's Thursday and the sun is out. Today's prompt is to do something that makes you think of spring!

Amazing class last night!

I taught a Zentangle 101 class last night at my local gallery. It was a great assortment of ladies and they made awesome art!

Aren't they beautiful!?!?!
Got a little more done on the sneakers and I'm not sure what I'll be doing today.

Sneakers most likely (and maybe a nap, I'm tired)

Day 31/365

We did it!
We have completed January!
Don't worry if you missed a day or two, or are just finding your way here now.
The challenge for the year is to be creative 300 out of the 365 days (That means you can miss 2 whole months and still make it!)
AND if you jump in late there will be a half year celebration too!

I promised some prizes... and prizes we shall have.

This month, I've been pretty focused on Bijou, so from all the entries 1 person will be selected to receive a set of Bijou tiles and a new micron.

The winner will be selected on Monday so make sure to get your entries in if they haven't been entered so far!


I played with my sketchbook and made some Bijou sized tangles myself.

 What's Bijou have for us today?

Enjoy the shade!
For a snail that's a double entendre (I love using my French now and then). I love hanging out in the shade beneath the ferns. I also love shading my tangles. How do I do it? That's a secret and a snail needs some secrets.





So thank you to all of you for joining me on this journey, I look forward to the next 11 months of creativity with you all!
Tell your friends, bring them too. You know creative people tend to be happier people who get more out of life. :)

Busy, busy day for me!

I have a Zentangle 101 class today so I've got a fun and busy day ahead of me.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Here is a mandala I did for my mandala magic program.

Today's post is short... I have a lot to do, but I didn't want to neglect you!

It's funny that today's Bijouism is to Slow Down. It actually stopped me in my tracks when I saw it, I took a sip of tea and decided to write just a little bit more.

I do have time to say that I am hoping you are having a great weekend! That you are taking time to be really creative and having fun while you do it. 

I am really excited about today's class.. I can just FEEL that it's going to be a good one. 

Slow down

You'd think that would be easy for a snail, right? But, as they say, "It's all relative." Even I can get ahead of myself in my head. When I'm learning a new tangle or when I make little dots (that's not easy for a snail!), I remind myself to slow down. Then I can focus and everything is much more fun. Snails like fun. Our life is a dance.

Work in progress pic for me today

Normally on Monday, I post later so that I can find, read and complete the Diva challenge before I post. Today hers is a big deal. It's about Weekly Challenge #201: "Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day 2015" and I think it deserves a really focused effort. Today I have some stuff going on and just can't devote the focus to that piece that it deserves so I'm going to show you a work in progress instead and really encourage you to go check out Laura's challenge today, even if you've never done one before. It's worth it. I will share my Moebius Syndrom Awareness tile when I get it done this week. I hope to see lots of yours shared as well. Here's my snowflake picture,

 I'm still working on it... this journal page is an event I tell you!

Trying something new-ish

A few months ago I played with Vine to get an idea of how it works. (You can find the link to my Vine on my social media tab up above if you're interested) I've only uploaded a few things so far but I'm hoping to change that if Vine cooperates. :)
If not, I'll continue to do what I did yesterday, which is just create small stop motions.

Here is a demonstration of Arukas in stop motion.
This is the most recent tangle that was released at CZT seminar.

I'm keeping today's post pretty short.. I want you to go create and I have some website stuff to work on, so have a great day! Do something awesome.

Day 6!!! (Is it starting to feel like a habit?)

28 days make a habit, but I find that things start to get easier for me after about a week. We're on day 6, and it's beginning to slip into my daily activity to make sure that I at least have some time carved out to be creative.
 I have a couple new sneaker orders to work on so I'll be posting pics of those in the upcoming days! I need to finish some ideas for some upcoming classes and of course my daily calendar! Today so far has just been a quick card for a friend so I can get it in the mail asap and then I'll work on my other stuff! It felt like a day for bright and cheery wishes!

What about you? What do you have on your list of things to do today?

 

Whew... Ok! Monday Jan.5, Day 5!

Ok, so the headache is finally (knocks on wood) better!

Here is what I have going on, because I was out of it, I missed the fact that yesterday I wanted to direct you to visit Suzy over at her blog SuzyMosh Creations because on Sundays she is running a "That's new to me" weekly challenge.  This week was to use a Tangle that was new to you that started with the letter T.
Since I wasn't feeling so hot, I decided to combine some of my challenges into 1 tile. :) Of course that means for the rest of the week, I'll be coming up with lots of stuff on my own, but I've got stuff I have to do, so that's good!

So anyway, my T tangle, the other day I used Twing for the first time... and struggled iwth it a lot. So I decided that since it's really new to me, that would be my T tangle.
Then, Laura over at the I am the Diva  posted her weekly challenge (seriously, check these out. These are such great ways to learn new things and to be creative even when you thought maybe you weren't feeling it)
Hers was to use Hitch by HeidiSue which tied in GREAT with Twing... Ok, I'm on a roll here!

My CZT group is back to doing challenges and this week was Vega, more diamonds! WOOOHOOO.....

and since I was all in at this point, why not add the Square One:Purely Zentangle focus tangle in too? That one was XYP! Wow, apparently diamond based tangles were the thing this week!
So... I put them all in together.

And I got this...

Twing, XYP, Vega, Hitch

I don't really love it, but I did learn a lot about each of those tangles as I did them. That's the point of challenges right? Push past your limits? Try something new?

Anyway, so those are some of the challenges I really like... you should try them if you want. They are open to everyone!

I also started planning a new class, it's top secret for now... and I've been practicing for it and I've recruited a few victims   eer.... volunteers who are going to be testing my lesson plan for me before I make that live. Here's a sneak peek of that, just some playing with scrap paper.

And then... finally, I did my Tangle a day calendar yesterday and today.
I reserve the right to add to these 2, I don't love either of them, but I'm not at the top of my game either yet.

Maybe I need chocolate. :)

Anyway... so show me what you've got going on friends! I can't wait to see!

Just... do it (day 4)

I had big plans for projects yesterday, instead I had a horrific headache and spent a good chunk of the day in bed.
NOT my favorite thing to do. :(
So I finished my "Jar of Happiness/Jar of Positivity" which was almost done and then I did get my Tangle a day done and that's about it, but I did it... because a day without a pen in my hand makes me sad. I know there will be days I stumble and don't get much done, I know that there will be days when you don't want to do it... it really IS ok, but if you can, try. :) You really do feel better at least while you are creating.

Today the headache is better,if not good, so I'm hoping for more productivity.

Here's what I got done yesterday!

I"m a CZT®. :)

It's official. I am a Certified Zentagle Teacher!

It's a big part of why I've been so quiet lately, I was getting ready and certified and stuff.


I will be making a page with classes I'll be offering and stuff soon as well as some info about Zentangle® for those that are new to it.

I just wanted to share my news!

PS.. I love Bijou Tiles and Black tiles and Renaissance tiles and oooh... something that I'm pretty sure is still a secret.

I love Fall!!!

I truly think that fall is my favorite season. The colors are beautiful and vibrant, the world seems to be doing it's very best to decorate itself and there is pumpkin and apple flavored EVERYTHING here.
We are lucky enough to have an exchange student visiting and I've gotten to spend time with some of my best friends lately which has kept me busy, but I've also been VERY busy on the creativity front.
I saw a picture of these on the internet, and was reminded that my Gram had taught me to make a version years and years ago... so here are mine.
I'm out of practice, but they're SO pretty!!

 


And then... I made this for me because I really wanted to have my stuff organized and handy and at my fingertips. I was SO happy with how it turned out and I am still just giddy when I look at it!
When I showed it on facebook, so many people wanted one I decided to make them and put them in my etsy shop. (They're only $35 and include the pens for right now if you are interested, you can check it out at www.whimsybykelly.com)
And then I promptly got a ton of orders! YAY!

I also had several orders come in for custom converse and some cute geeky earrings. :)

So, I've been busy working on all of that.

I've done a few other things including this mini-mandala

And then I got to participate in this weeks Diva Challenge 189 which was UMT Yuma. This was my first attempt at this tangle and I struggled with it a little, but I love the idea of them feeding off the leaves, so I used green to add to it. I rarely use color but it seems to fit on this one!

I'm behind one, 188, which is one that I'm actually excited to work on, it's a LGBT alliance tile and I haven't skipped it, I just was short on time last week and didn't want to rush it, so I'll get back to that asap!

In the meantime, everyone have a great week and I'll check in when I can! Now, I'm off to go have some apple crisp or a pumpkin muffin!